The Fear of a Loving God

We have all heard that God is love. He wants an intimate relationship, very similar to a marriage relationship, with each and every one of us. This is awesome and something that separates Christianity from other religions. All too often, however, we fall too far in to the "God is love" thing and forget who He really is. I know I have had this happen to me more times than I can count. We intentionally sin or do something we know God says not to all while thinking "oh He will forgive me, He will always forgive me. Jesus died for all my sins whenever I make them." While God will forgive, at its heart, that last statement is wrong.

Let me talk about a little of God's wrath. Remember the one family He saved when the world was so wicked He had to destroy it with a flood? Yep. Noah's family was the only to survive then (Genesis 7). We get the same picture of God with Sodom and Gomorrah. God completely and utterly destroyed the city, only allowing one family to get out (and really less than that because Lot's wife decided to disobey God)  in Genesis 19. The same God knocked down the walls of Jericho, the most fortified city around, without anyone even laying a hand on them (Joshua 6). There are other examples of God's wrath and power in the bible but I think you've got the point.

Whenever God shows up in the bible, particularly in the Old Testament, He shows up as fire. Fire is one of the most powerful things on this planet. It can consume anything if it burns hot enough, and will burn if you even get close to it.

Moses Recieves the Ten Commandments
Mount Sinai was covered with smoke, because The Lord descended on it in fire. The smoke billowed up from it like smoke from a furnace and the whole mountain trembled violently. Exodus 19:18

Moses at the Burning Bush
The angel of The Lord appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush. Moses saw that though the bush was on fire it did not burn up. Exodus 3:2

Elijah and the Prophets of baal
Then the fire of The Lord fell and burned up the sacrifice, the wood, and the stones and the soil, and also licked up the water in the trench. 1 Kings 18:38

The Holy Spirit Descends on the Apostles
Suddenly, there was a sound from heaven like the roaring of a mighty windstorm, and it filled the house where they were sitting. Then, what looked like flames or tongues of fire appeared and settled on each of them. Acts 2:2-3

There are four tangible examples of God showing up in a manner that is terrifying. I couldn't have imagined being up on Mount Sinai when Moses recieved the Ten Commandments. If you have a little time, read that story in Exodus 19.

So why don't we see God today the same way the people in the Old Testament saw Him? Simple. Jesus. He doesn't have to punish us here on earth, because Jesus gave Himself so that we might have the oppurtunity to come to Him. The fire we experience will be when Jesus returns for what is His and all others will be cast into the lake of fire. "And if anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire." Revelation 20:15.

What about those of us redeemed by Jesus? How should we think about God's wrath? John Piper says it very well:

Suppose you were exploring an unknown Greenland glacier in the dead of winter. Just as you reach a sheer cliff with a spectacular view of miles of jagged ice and mountains of snow, a terrible storm breaks in. The wind is so strong that the fear rises in your heart that it might blow you over the cliff. But in the midst of the storm you discover a cleft in the ice where you can hide. Here you feel secure. But, even though secure, the awesome might of the storm rages on, and you watch it with a kind of trembling pleasure as it surges out across the distant glaciers. Not everything we call fear vanishes from your heart, only the life-threatening part. There remains the trembling, the awe, the wonder, the feeling that you would never want to tangle with such a storm or be the adversary of such a power. And so it is with God. The fear of God is what is left of the storm when you have a safe place to watch right in the middle of it. Hope turns fear into a trembling and peaceful wonder, and fear takes everything trivial out of hope and makes it earnest and profound. The terrors of God make the pleasures of his people intense. The fireside fellowship is all the sweeter when the storm is howling outside the cottage. 

Jesus is the cleft in the ice. He gives us refuge from the storm. Let's not forget who God is, how powerful of a storm He can bring, and who gave us the shelter we most definitely needed. God is love, but He is also a God of righteous anger. Thank You, Jesus!

Remember the God we serve and how we should serve Him. Don't run from God with intentional sin knowing He will take you back. Draw close to Him knowing He is the one and only who is worthy to be praised. He wants all of us. Anything in between 0 and 100% is just an insult. If Jesus really did what the bible says He did, there is nothing of greater importance EVER. If it isn't, it is an awesome story. It's up to you to figure it out.